New files relating to Keir Starmer‘s appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador will add more fuel to a scandal that could propel him out of office.
The Prime Minister has been forced to order the publication of a trove of papers after Kemi Badenoch forced a Commons vote on the issue.
Dubbed ‘the Mandelson files’, they will include hundreds of documents surrounding his appointment, including private texts exchanged with Sir Keir and his chief of staff Morgan McSweeney – who bulldozed through the appointment.
Lord Mandelson was sacked from his US posting last September after emails emerged showing him carrying on his friendship with billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein after his conviction for child sex offences.
In a pincer movement with mutinous Labour MPs yesterday, Ms Badenoch used a Commons motion to require the release of all documents surrounding the fateful decision to make him US ambassador in December 2024.
Sir Keir attempted to neuter the release by suggesting Cabinet Secretary Sir Chris Wormald would be asked to vet all documents to ensure they did not undermine national security or ‘international relations’.
But that only saw Mrs Badenoch accuse him of trying to ‘cover up’ evidence of ‘catastrophic lack of judgment’ while also managing to rile Labour MPs, led by his leadership rival Angela Rayner.
The ‘Mandelson files’ risk torpedoing Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership
Following the PM’s climbdown, the motion to release the Mandelson files was passed by MPs without a vote. The files will now be picked through by Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee, who have top level clearance.
The files will include details of what Lord Mandelson told the prime minister and Mr McSweeney about the nature of his relationship with Epstein.
This could prove deeply damaging to Sir Keir, who admitted for the first time yesterday that he appointed the New Labour grandee despite knowing he had remained friends with Epstein after his conviction.
WhatsApp exchanges sent on private phones may be included, as could information relating to negotiations around the ‘golden goodbye’ paid to Lord Mandelson after his sacking.
But last night there were doubts about how much material would be released after the Metropolitan Police warned against publishing anything that could undermine its criminal investigation into Lord Mandelson’s activities.
Scotland Yard is investigating whether emails in which Lord Mandelson appeared to send Epstein market sensitive information while serving as Labour’s business secretary during the financial crisis could constitute misconduct in public office – a crime that carries a potential life sentence.
The Mandelson scandal has left Sir Keir’s premiership hanging in the balance, with rumours sweeping Westminster that some ministers are even considering resigning in a bid to accelerate his downfall.
Scotland Yard is investigating whether emails in which Lord Mandelson appeared to send Epstein market sensitive information while serving as Labour’s business secretary during the financial crisis could constitute misconduct in public office – a crime that carries a potential life sentence.
The cross-party Intelligence and Security Committee will now decide what material is released, with the chair warning ’embarrassment’ is not enough for evidence to be suppressed.
A series of emails have already been released that cast light on Mr Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein.
Epstein – who died in prison – at a 2005 event in New York
Some of the messages show the Labour grandee celebrating the paedophile’s release from jail as ‘Liberation day’ and calling him a ‘naughty boy‘.
The latest Epstein files document dump by US authorities has piled further pressure on Lord Mandelson, who is facing a criminal probe and has quit the House of Lords.
One email thread from July 2009 apparently shows the then-government minister asking Epstein how they should celebrate his release from prison after serving 13 months for soliciting prostitution with a minor.
Epstein responded: ‘With grace and modesty (those are the names of two strippers).’
Lord Mandelson said: ‘From now on, grace and modesty sd [should] be discovered in London.’
The emails can be traced to him because his private email address was left unredacted in one of the messages, and his name is in another.
The Daily Mail has redacted most of that email address with a grey box in this article, while the original redactions from the US Department of Justice are black boxes.
The former UK ambassador to the US told the Daily Mail the messages were his but ‘they are his [Epstein’s] observations not mine’ and that he was saying Epstein ‘should find grace and modesty not strippers’.
The 2009 emails also show Mandelson asking ‘How is freedom feeling?’, to which the sex offender replied: ‘she feels fresh, firm, and creamy’.
‘Naughty boy,’ the Labour grandee wrote in response.
In another message Mandelson can be seen telling Epstein upon his release: ‘Liberation day ! X.’
Lord Mandelson and Epstein in a photograph released by the US Department of Justice
Mandelson and Epstein’s messages after the financier was let out of jail in 2009
The emails can be traced to Mandelson because his private email address was left unredacted in one of the messages
The crude messages have prompted disgust from figures across the political spectrum, with SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn writing on X ‘sick bastards’ and Tory shadow minister Alex Burghart telling MPs he was ‘shocked and disturbed’.
Downing Street sources played down the prospects of Mandelson files being released today, although it is still possible.
As seen in the US, the process may take some time, although any excessive delays or redactions will lead to further political rows and claims of a cover-up.
With Sir Keir’s authority in tatters, even normally loyal Labour figures have questioned how long he can hang on.
Senior MPs warned the situation will ‘not end well’ for Sir Keir and the ‘clock is ticking’, while ex-Cabinet minister Lord Hutton suggested his time in power is coming to a close.
If the Mandelson files reveal the PM knew more about Lord Mandelson’s links to Epstein than he made out, that could prove fatal to his leadership.
